National Development Minister Tamás Fellegi has ordered state asset manager MNV to launch an investigation into the transfer of ownership of a property in District XII worth Ft 560 million (€2 million) from the state to the Hungarian Jewish Heritage Trust just two days before former MNV director Miklós Kamarás stepped down, index.hu reports.
According to a government provision that went into effect in 2009, the property, formerly the Canadian embassy, could be given to the Hungarian Jewish Heritage Trust as long as they used it for cultural, social or religious purposes. According to the law, the trust can sell the property, but if they do so within five years, 50% of the selling price must be refunded to the state.
According to reports in the media, Kamarás stated that the decision to transfer the property was signed off on by the incoming leadership, who have since denied that any such agreement was in place.
Gusztáv Zoltai, one of the Hungarian Jewish Heritage Trust’s presidents, stated that the property belonged to a Jewish organization prior to World War II, and that it became the Canadian embassy after many buildings belonging to religious institutions were nationalized in 1945. Zoltai added that the return of this building was part of restitutions the government promised back in 1997.